New York launches AI safety network with more than 80 researchers

By Grace Kim

Gov. Kathy Hochul launched a statewide frontier-AI testing program in New York on November 10, 2026, with more than 80 researchers and a January 1, 2027 registration deadline for large frontier AI developers.

The New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research, known as NYCAIRR and based at Binghamton University, will run independent frontier-model evaluations, conduct foundational scientific research and train AI safety experts, the governor's office said. It will assess current systems and develop measurement tools and standards for increasingly powerful models.

State officials said the work should give public officials objective evidence for AI safety and accountability decisions. The governor's office also identified responsible applications in medicine, scientific discovery and critical infrastructure as intended beneficiaries.

The launch placed independent technical testing beside New York's new AI oversight regime.

What will NYCAIRR test?

Greg Morrisett, dean and vice provost of Cornell Tech, and Jeannette Wing, executive vice president for research at Columbia University, will serve as interim co-directors, New York's launch announcement said. They will guide the scientific agenda, oversee independent evaluations and build the statewide network. Participants will remain at their home institutions.

NYCAIRR will use advanced computing from Empire AI, a $500 million public-private initiative supporting AI research for the public good, according to the announcement. The research agenda covers:

• how advanced systems operate;
• how to test their safety and security;
• whether they behave as intended;
• how AI can be used responsibly in scientific discovery.

The governor's office said a national recruitment effort will seek specialists in:

• mathematical theory, formal methods and verification;
• agentic and complex systems;
• hardware security and privacy;
• interpretability and alignment;
• scientific AI and biosecurity.

Hochul presented the independent work as a check on developers' own accounts. "The stakes are too high to simply take AI companies at their word," she said.

In short, New York will test the models and examine the safety claims behind them.

What funding backs NYCAIRR?

The center was first announced on January 21, 2026, with a $30 million philanthropic gift from a donor group led by Binghamton alumnus and Bloomberg LP co-founder Tom Secunda. The State University of New York also made a separate $25 million research capital investment, and New York State is providing operating capital, according to the launch announcement.

The November launch expands that original public-university research mission with the statewide network and independent-evaluation program. The center now has a broader mandate than its initial announcement.

What does the RAISE Act require?

Alongside the research launch, New York opened the RAISE Portal under the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act. Large frontier AI developers must use it to register with the state by January 1, 2027. The Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust, or DIGIT, within the Department of Financial Services, is implementing the law, according to the state.

The state's September 21, 2026 implementation announcement said all frontier AI developers operating in New York face safety and transparency requirements, with additional obligations for large developers. Beginning in January 2027:

• large developers must publish safety frameworks;
• all frontier developers must report critical safety incidents;
• all frontier developers must publish model transparency reports.

For large developers, the same implementation announcement sets three more deadlines:

• report critical safety incidents to DIGIT within 72 hours;
• file quarterly catastrophic-risk assessments;
• submit disclosure statements at least every other year.

The January 2027 compliance cycle will put company disclosures and NYCAIRR's independent work on the same regulatory agenda.

How will research and regulation work together?

At the state's request, NYCAIRR can provide expertise, assessments and evidence for frontier-AI oversight. It will coordinate with DIGIT to review developers' published safety frameworks and recommend ways to strengthen requirements, the launch announcement said.

The launch described a division of labor: DIGIT handles registration and reporting, while NYCAIRR supplies independent technical analysis. The practical test will come in January 2027: whether NYCAIRR gives officials useful evidence beyond companies' own publications.